All That Matters
by Kestrel4
Summary: A strange machine on a strange planet. Sound familiar? I suck at summaries. Read! Review!


All That Matters

_by Kestrel_

          Jack ran, trying to reach the bus stop before the dang thing left without him. His wife had the car, and she was in labor in the hospital. "Stop!" he screamed, as though the bus were a wild beast that was charging towards him. He could see the doors closing… "Stop!" he shouted again, waving his arms. Either the bus driver was blind or thought Jack was sprinting and waving his arms in the rain for his health, for the huge vehicle didn't stop. It rolled right past him and Jack collapsed on the sidewalk, yelling hoarsely. The yelling turned to loud cries, which turned into moans. "No…" Jack whispered to the soaking pavement. He had to get there somehow. His wife… "My wife is in the hospital, and I have to get there. She needs me there, to hold her hand, to be her support! I want to see my child born!" 

He somehow crawled into the little bus stop shelter and sat there with his face in his hands. What am I doing? He suddenly asked himself. I shouldn't even be here. I should be at the SGC. No actually, I should be on P8X-908—

          Promptly the rain ceased and he was sitting in a white chamber, wearing rumpled fatigues and muddied boots. In a rush, all his memories came back to him. He was Jack O'Neill, commanding officer of SG-1— the front line team for the Stargate program. "Pretty neat machine you got there," he said to empty air. "I even forgot who I was."

          A door opened at one end of the room, and the rest of his team stepped in. Jack leapt up to try and get them to turn around and get out, but it was too late. Teal'C was shoved roughly in with the rest of them, and before they could react, they were lost in another identity…

          Two aliens occupied seats behind an elaborate consul. They looked like the Asgaard, with the exception of foot-long noses and whirling, colorful eyes. They giggled like school children as they poked buttons. "Put O'Neill back in the identity he had, with his 'wef' in the 'hosipalt'." The alien struggled over the foreign words. The other alien grinned and poked at the consul. Then both of them sat back to watch the view-screen and enjoy the scenes they had created.

*        *        *        *        *

Jack sat slumped in the bus area, feeling worthless. He stared out at the rain, not really seeing it. I am a terrible husband, he thought to himself. I'm not there the one moment that counts in this marriage.

"Hey, stranger," a voice called. "Need a lift?"

          Jack looked up. A blonde-haired man with friendly blue eyes sat right across from him in a Chevy Suburban, which was idling next to the curb. He had to shout to be heard. 

          "Sure!" Jack hopped in. He didn't know why, but a gut instinct told him to trust this guy. 

          "Where to? And I'm Daniel, by the way."

          "The City Hospital. I'm Jack."

          As he drove, Daniel's brow wrinkled in concern. "Who's in the hospital?"

          "My wife. It's our first."

          Daniel grinned. "I know what you're going through. My wife Janet and I are on our third."

          Jack couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise. "Woah," he gasped softly. Daniel nodded. "Yeah, woah.

          "So what is it? Boy or girl?"

          Jack scratched and then hung his head. "I don't know. I haven't been around. My job takes me all over the place, and I don't choose where they send me."

          "Yeah, I know that feeling too."

          Jack let out a short chuckle. He had the strangest feeling, like he had found his best friend. They drove on in silence.

          "What the hell—!" Daniel shouted, gripping the steering wheel. Jack caught a glimpse of some dark shapes through the rain before Daniel swerved to avoid them. The Chevy squealed and flipped, throwing the two men against the ceiling. Daniel groaned and to Jack it looked like the kind man had blacked out. He could smell fire and knew they had to get out. He undid his own seatbelt and instantly slumped upside down on what had been the roof. A lump was raising on Daniel's head. Jack could see flames; he popped open the glovebox and grabbed the bundle of papers there, stuck them in a bag that was resting on the pseudo-floor, and threw it out the window. He then cracked open the door. Dashing around to the other side, he managed to drag the unconscious man through the window and into the soaked drainage ditch nearby. His fingers groped the rough strap of the bag and he clutched it and Daniel close as the Suburban exploded. Suddenly, through the flames, he could hear voices. "They jumped this way!" a hoarse, deep voice called. Jack was staring up at the sky and letting the rain cleanse him when a grinning head blocked his shower. Jack was too tired to even jump. The huge man picked him up as though Jack were a child, and signaled to two other to grab Daniel. Jack hadn't let go of the bag; his numb fingers were clutched and purple around the strap. He was loaded into a limo.

          Daniel sat up in the seat next to him and groaned. Jack was regaining some of his strength thanks to the stiff drink his savior had poured him. 

          "I'm sorry about your car," the black man said, and he did sound apologetic. "My boys 'n me were trashin' the hood, y'know, when all of a sudden these posers try to trash us. I guess the trashin' moved on to the street."

          Jack nodded sardonically, absentmindedly squinting and rubbing his skull. "So I s'pose I should thank you for this…?"

          The man grinned. "I'm TC. This my right-hand Disko, and that's Joey."

          Daniel had woken. "What's TC short for?"

          TC made a face. "My momma gave me the name Teal'C, but I figured since my momma ain't around no more, she won't object to TC."

          Daniel tilted his head, and his eyes fell on the bag Jack held. Jack plopped it into Daniel's lap. "I grabbed everything from the glovebox," Jack said. Daniel smiled in thanks and pulled out a photo. It was of he, his wife, and their children. The kids, a girl and two boys, were smiling and leaning back on their parents, who were leaning close to one another.

          Jack glanced at TC. "Hey, TC, can a man get a favor 'round here?"

          TC grinned, flashing perfect white teeth. "Sure. Whatcha need?"

          "I need to get to City Hospital and now."

*        *        *        *        *

The aliens booed childishly at the screen and poked more buttons. "This is boring," they whined. "Have TC be the enemy," one remarked to the other. The other grinned, showing rows of pinpoint sharp teeth. "With an unexpected twist…"

*        *        *        *        *

          Jack could see flames; he popped open the glovebox and grabbed the bundle of papers there, stuck them in a bag that was resting on the pseudo-floor, and threw it out the window. He then cracked open the door. Dashing around to the other side, he managed to drag the unconscious man through the window and into the soaked drainage ditch nearby. His fingers groped the rough strap of the bag and he clutched it and Daniel close as the Suburban exploded. Suddenly, through the flames, he could hear voices. "They jumped this way!" a hoarse, deep voice called. Jack was staring up at the sky and letting the rain cleanse him when a grinning head blocked his shower. Jack was too tired to even jump. The huge man picked him up as though Jack were a child, and signaled to two other to grab Daniel. Jack hadn't let go of the bag; his numb fingers were clutched and purple around the strap.

          He was pulled into a damp alleyway and shoved upright against a wall. Blows began raining down on to his face and into his chest and stomach. He grunted and tasted bile but was too disoriented to say anything. The bag was wrenched halfway from his grasp, but his fingers screamed in protest at the movement and so he yanked the bag back. 

          "Who are you? What are you doing in the Brotherhood district?" The man who had pulled him out of the ditch shouted to be heard over the downpour. The little group was safe from the brunt of the storm under the overhanging eaves, but still they were dripped upon. 

          Daniel groaned and woke; he shot a glimpse around the alley at the men, Jack, and the current situation, and then sighed. He had lost his glasses, Jack noticed, though he hadn't been wearing them in the car. Or had he? Everything was so confused. Then suddenly, a keening cry tore from Daniel's throat, and he wrestled out of the thin Asian's grasp to launch himself at the African-American who interrogated Jack. 

          Jack watched in amazement as in a few moments Daniel had succeeded in knocking out all six of their aggressors. "Yeah, woah," the blonde man said softly, smiling. "Now we ought to get out of here."

          Jack gingerly pried his fingers from the strap of the bag; he sickeningly noticed that they were bruised and black. Clenching his fists wrought a squeal and tears. Daniel, looking for all the world like a homeless hero standing under the eave and dripping wet, pulled a now soaked and crumpled photo out of the bundle of papers Jack had grabbed. Jack ventured over, curious. Daniel, who was silently letting tears mingle with the rain on his face, smiled slightly and showed Jack a picture of he, a brunette woman and three children. The youngest, a newborn, sat on mommy's lap enthralled by the camera. Jack couldn't help but smile. 

          Daniel looked at him, up slightly as he was a good few inches shorter than Jack, and pushed glasses Jack hadn't noticed before back up on to the bridge of his nose. He stored the picture away safely in the soaked bag, and then said, "Let's haul butt. You still wanna get to the hospital?"

          The black man, who was closest to them, moaned. Jack nodded, businesslike. "Yeah."

          "Lez go, then. I know the way."

*        *        *        *        *

          Inside the maternity ward at the City Hospital, a doctor clucked his tongue worriedly at the woman on the bed who was beginning to shake from labor contractions. "She needs her husband here with her," the nurse said. "They both need to hear and go through this at the same time."

          The woman, who didn't really care about much besides her baby, heard everything they said. So basically I might die, and Jack isn't even here. Bastard, she concluded. He's never home, and not even now will he stand by my side. She shoved a strand of damp hair out of her face with a hand whit-knuckled from gripping the rail of the bed. Then another wave of contractions rippled through her, and she forgot all but the pain.

          Jack and Daniel raced through streets blurred by rain. Jack felt as though he was racing time itself, and that notion pushed him to run much harder than his normal endurance. Daniel had to sprint at times in order to catch up.

          "Jack!" Daniel called, panting and nearly drowning himself with each breath as the rain pressed down harder. "Jack, wait!"

          "No! I have to get there in time!"

          "Jack! Listen to me! You will get there in plenty of time, but not if you kill yourself trying! Slow down!"

          Jack heard him from eons away, but still skidded to a stop. Everything was spinning and moving in slow motion. Daniel's steps took ages in Jack's eyes, and when the blonde man lunged to keep Jack's head from striking the pavement when Jack collapsed it seemed it was agonizingly slow. They were in the middle of a field, and Jack as he lay on the ground knew something was wrong with where they were. "Were we not just in the middle of the city?"

          Daniel wrinkled his nose. "Yeah, We must have taken a wrong turn." He stood and gazed about the horizon. There were not even any distant buildings in sight. 

          Thunder crackled above, and Daniel dove to splash into the mud beside Jack. Lightning slashed the sky where he'd stood not a few seconds before, and the entire field turned blue with the awesome energy of the bolt. "Zat gun…" Jack mumbled. Daniel looked at him in concern, and as he did so he noticed the wheat around them turn into the fronts of buildings and the mud turn into concrete. Jack saw as well and shook his head. "This is wack," he said. "Really wack. How…?"

          An ominous creaking noise caused Daniel's eyebrows to crease in dread and for his eyes to slowly follow the line of buildings to the massive one right in front of him. It teetered from the force of the wind. 

          "Oh, shit," Jack whispered.

          "Just remember geometry! Calculate the distance and figure out where the window's gonna fall!"

          "I failed that!" Jack yelled.

          "Here!" Daniel screamed and yanked Jack over with him. The glass had blown out of the windows, so when the building fell they were standing in the empty window frame with wreckage all around them. 

          "We're alive!" Daniel shouted ecstatically. Jack didn't really hear him, for he was leaping over the rubble as fast as he could towards a distant sign that spelled out in neon red letters City Hospital. He glanced at his watch, winced, and pushed his run to a sprint. Daniel matched his stride evenly, but Jack didn't see him. It was beginning to rain again, and they had two minutes. 

Two minutes.

          The doctor held the woman's hand as she pushed with all her might, screaming at intervals when she paused for gasping breath and the contractions seized her. She screamed for Jack, but only she knew that.

          Outside of the hospital, standing in the pouring rain, Jack heard the scream coming from an open window. He knew then that he was too late. Daniel pushed him from behind, having heard the scream as well. "Keep— going—," the blonde man panted. "You are still getting up there in time whether you like it or not."

          One minute.

          The top of a small head was visible. The woman screamed all the louder and pushed again. The wind beat against the screen of the window the woman had requested stay open, and one nurse shrugged to another. The rain beat the floor as it found ways inside the screen. The storm rose in fervor and pitch as the wind howled. A shrill wail wrenched itself from the woman's throat.

          Thirty seconds. 

          Jack took the stairs four at a time, not having enough patience to take the elevator. Surprisingly, Daniel stayed with him, and together they flung open the door to the Maternity ward. Jack caught some of the stairs as he dashed by, and he knew the two of them must look a sight, clothes dripping, hair muddied and matted by blood.

          Ten seconds.

          Jack studied numbers as they flashed by, not really seeing them and trusting Daniel to guide him.

          Five. 

          The woman screamed all the harder and let out a strenuous grunt. The entire head was out; the bloodied eyes close serenely like the infant was tying to catch those last few seconds of eternal sleep before being brought into the cruel, cold world.

          Two.

          Jack threw open the door to the operation room, barely acknowledging the fact that Daniel was no longer beside him.

          The woman screamed defeatedly, a small sound that barely escaped the room. 

          Five doors to choose, but Jack had heard the scream.

          He dashed inside.

          One second—

          The doctor held up the baby as a nurse snipped the umbilical cord. "It's a—!"

          Jack, soaked and dripping, burst through the double doors to dive to his wife's side. She smiled in first shock then delight as he took her sweat soaked hand in his dirty, scorched, and bloody one. Together they turned their eyes to the doctor, who finished his sentence almost proudly.

          "—boy."

          A thin wail issued from the blankets the doctor was oh-so-carefully handling. He handed the baby to Jack despite his misgivings about sterility, and in turn the proud father handed his son to his wife. His wife then suckled him with a wide smile on her face threatening to crack it. 

          "Name?" A nurse asked in a shocked tone.

          "Jonathan—," The woman began.

          "Daniel." Jack finished.

          Daniel arrived in time to hear this announcement, and smiled wearily at his new friend. Jack grinned back. 

          Lying exhausted and yet strangely exhilarated on the bloodied hospital bed, Sam Carter halfheartedly shoved a few blonde strands from her eyes. The nurse removed the dirty over covering and then draped a clean blanket over the disheveled woman. Jack knelt beside the bed as Jon Daniel slurped up his first meal and gurgled happily. 

          "I didn't think you'd come," Sam whispered to her husband. Jack's eyes and touch were tender when he caressed her hand. 

          "Sam, you mean more to me than life itself. And certainly so does the birth of our first child. And he and you are what matter most to me in this world. Not heat, nor cold—"

          "—Nor thugs, rain, lightning, falling buildings—" Daniel muttered.

          "—Nor hell nor high water could keep me away," Jack finished. He grinned. "And me and Space Monkey here went through every single one of those!"

          "Space Monkey?" Daniel asked, a strange expression on his face. The doctor came back through the double doors, except now he was black and had a strange gold symbol on his forehead.

*        *        *        *        *

          The aliens shrieked in dismay as their toy sparked and smoked.

*        *        *        *        *

          Jack, Sam, Daniel and Teal'C found themselves back inside the white room, and they each knew what their purpose in this life was. Jack was the first on his feet, shouting over some unknown noise about how he would 'kick their slimy asses'. He kicked open the door, but soon began choking on the thick billowing smoke that was blowing from the machine. The aliens were nowhere to be found.

          Sam, still strangely aching from delivering a baby that didn't exist to her CO, recognized something that was going to blow up when she saw it. "Sir!" She yelled, and Jack turned. She pointed to the machine, which was now rocking with the force of what promised to be a big boom. Jack, with speed even he didn't know he had, whipped out a wad of plastic explosive, stuck it and the charge of C4 on the heavy door opposite them, and punched the detonator. It blew a hole in the door, and, tossing aside the now useless detonator, Jack ushered his people out into bright sunlight.

          They were tumbling through the wormhole when the machine blew, and as the Stargate shut off on the planet P8X-908 bits of shrapnel blew through from the collapsing compound. As SG-1 tumbled though into the SGC, the gate technician saw on his computer that unauthorized hazardous material was hurtling through the gate and closed the iris just in time.

          Sam, as she stood shakily, turned questioning eyes to her commanding officer. Jack held those eyes as he turned her body to him and drew her close. He then held her to him, and she put her arms around him in a we-did-it sort of embrace. He ran his fingers through her hair, and her tight embrace became a tad bit more passionate. "All that matters…" he whispered.

The End


End file.
